Theodore G. Bilbo

Theodore Gilmore Bilbo (13 October 1877-21 August 1947) was the Governor of Mississippi from 18 January 1916 to 18 January 1920, succeeding Earl L. Brewer and preceding Lee M. Russel, and again from 16 January 1928 to 19 January 1932, succeeding Dennis Murphree and preceding Martin Sennett Cooper. Bilbo also served as a US Senator from Mississippi from 3 January 1935 to 21 August 1947, succeeding Hubert D. Stephens and preceding John C. Stennis. Bilbo was known to be a member of the Ku Klux Klan, and he was known for his belief in white supremacism and for his corruption.

Biography
Theodore Gilmore Bilbo was born in Pearl River County, Mississippi on 13 October 1877, and he was admitted to the bar after graduating from Vanderbilt University Law School. In 1908, as a member of the Democratic Party, Bilbo was elected to the State Senate, serving until 1912. During this time, Bilbo was accused of accepting bribes, but he managed to recover from these accusations to become Lieutenant-Governor of Mississippi in 1912, serving in this post until 1916, when he was elected Governor. Bilbo joined the Ku Klux Klan due to his belief in white supremacism, and he was a major supporter of segregation and the suppression of African-American rights. From 1928 to 1932, he would again serve as Governor, and he failed to move the University of Mississippi's location from Oxford to Jackson. He also helped Al Smith's 1928 presidential campaign by claiming that US Republican Party nominee Herbert Hoover had socialized with a black woman, appealing to southern voters' racism; although Smith was Catholic and wanted to repeal Prohibition, Bilbo knew that he would keep the Republicans from taking over the country, which would have negative effects on segregation. From 1935 to 1947, he served in the Senate, and he argued that blacks across the country should not be able to vote. In 1938, he filibustered an anti-lynching bill, defending white supremacist murderers. He died of oral cancer while still in office in 1947.